‘Law & Order: SVU’ Lands a New Showrunner: ‘Law & Order’ Alum Rick Eid

Michael Schneider March 10, 2016, 7:00 pm

There’s a new boss in charge of Law & Order: SVU.

Rick Eid has signed a new two-year overall deal with Universal Television to take over as executive producer and showrunner on SVU. His stint begins next fall, with the show’s 18th season.

Rick Eid

Eid replaces Warren Leight, who has spent the last five seasons running the show. Leight joined SVU in 2011, for its 13th season, but is now moving on to develop new shows under a deal he has with Sony Pictures Television. Leight signed his deal with Sony a year ago, but under the arrangement, Sony load him back to SVU to oversee this past season.

Eid is no stranger to SVU executive producer Dick Wolf’s pack, having served as a co-executive producer on Law & Order. He also co-created Conviction for Wolf and worked on Law & Order: Trial by Jury. His other credits include CBS’ Hostages, TNT’s Dark Blue and CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

“I’m extremely pleased that Rick had decided to rejoin the family and hope that he will be here for years to come,” Wolf said in a statement.

SVU, the longest-running scripted drama in primetime, was renewed earlier this year as part of a new landmark deal between NBCUniversal and Wolf.